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MONROE – Dominican and Jesuit tennis coaches relaxed Wednesday knowing that no matter what happened in their players’ individual matches, the team titles belonged to them. That didn't eliminate all the rattled nerves for the players.

For the most part, the nervousness didn’t appear to matter much.

The boys doubles finals with an all-Blue Jays affair, and the girls singles pitted two Dominican players, as each team put an exclamation point on the Division I state tennis championships at Forsythe Park.

For Jesuit, the state title was the school’s 19th over the past 20, but a first for new coach Travis Smith. Dominican won its second title in two seasons.

“The boys’ play was inspiring and exciting, but their preparation and what they did before they got here is really what won us the championship,” said Smith, who spent seven seasons as an assistant with the Blue Jays prior to being named head coach before this season. “From player one to player eight, each one found a way to play their very best tennis when they needed it most. That happened through hours, weeks and months of practice. …

“It was wonderful not to have the stress (of not having to worry Wednesday). All my friends who were with me all week (told him) I was not being myself and knew I was stressed. I could tell the players were a little stressed. So to know we clinched the team championship a day early was fantastic.”

You can listen to more from Smith on Jesuit's title in a video posted here.

Dominican won the singles title when junior Haley Tucker defeated freshman teammate Gabby Terranova, 6-0, 6-0. It also won the doubles, as Morgan Forshag and Lilly Labiche defeated Abby Inabnet and Avery Bryan of Byrd, 6-1, 4-6, 6-0.

“(Tucker’s) performance was incredible. She dropped just a few games throughout the tournament. She was on fire,” Dominican Coach Peggy Miner said. “… It was harder than I thought it would be (to have two girls facing off in the championship), because you can’t root for either one. I said, ‘Why am I nervous? They’re both from our school.’ But you want them both to win because they both worked so hard.”

Tucker won her third championship match appearance in four years and her first individual title. Her previous championship appearances were last season and in 2011 as an eighth grader.

“It was a good feeling. After being a runner-up twice, that made it better,” she said. “It was tough to play my teammate, especially for a second time because we played in regionals. … I was nervous because I wanted to win, but I knew it would be tough.”

Tucker and her coach talked about winning the titles in a video posted here.

Jim Derry can be reached at jderry@nola.com or 985.373.6482. He will be covering Loreauville at Northlake Christian in a Class 2A bi-district baseball playoff games on Friday (May 2). Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/JimDerryJr.